


Listen To The Fireplace Roar

by alittlebitcloser



Series: Baby It’s Cold Outside [2]
Category: RuPaul's Drag Race (US) RPF
Genre: Christmas gift for the dykes, F/F, Jan’s house after the happenings of ‘I’ll Hold Your Hands They’re Just Like Ice’, christmas softness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:42:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28317678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alittlebitcloser/pseuds/alittlebitcloser
Summary: Christmas at Jan’s was everything Jackie expected, and a little bit more.****As promised, Jackie goes to Jan’s for Christmas. It’s lovely, if a teeny tiny bit overwhelming. A small sequel to I’ll Hold Your Hands, They’re Just Like Ice.
Relationships: Jackie Cox/Jan Sport
Series: Baby It’s Cold Outside [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2073927
Comments: 7
Kudos: 27





	Listen To The Fireplace Roar

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Christmas babeyyyys, think of this tiny bit of soft Jankie as my final Christmas gift to you. Thank you for reading this year it’s been a motherfuckin’ RIDE 💜

Christmas at Jan’s was everything Jackie expected, and a little bit more.

Jan’s parents were extensions of her, and every jigsaw piece of the Mantione family made perfect sense. Jan’s sisters had the same warmth, and their squeals were nothing short of raucous when they became a chorus. Every member of the family favoured warm things: hugs, mugs of steaming cocoa, homemade pasta dished out with care. 

On the first night, Jackie had hummed and accepted seconds readily. She would be lying if she said she didn’t spot the way Jan’s mom shot a thumbs up at her daughter when she thought Jackie wasn’t looking, and she smiled subtly to herself like she held a secret. Jackie’s family had never done ‘game night’ or any of those things she thought only existed in corny sitcoms. But there she was playing pictionary deep into the evening and placating Jan’s pout when their team of two lost tragically to her parents. 

It was Christmas Eve, and Jan’s mom had bounded into the room with something hidden behind her back. Jan and Jackie were sharing a bowl of popcorn on the sofa, and Jan narrowed her inquisitive brown eyes up at her mother. When she revealed the secret, Jackie had frozen. And then thawed.

It was a stocking.

Embellished with her name, matching the others that were hung carefully over the fireplace that was never lit (“the dog would literally die if we lit it, gorg, she’s an idiot who would try to eat the flames”). Jan tugged Jackie up by the hand, her garbled excitement threatening to cover Jackie’s grateful and repeated thank you’s. Jackie let her hang it up, cocking her head, heavily endeared by Jan’s beaming expression. Jackie knew what she was thinking: she had inducted her into the family, given her that token of together on a Christmas she was due to spend alone. She looked proud of herself.

Jackie accepted a small squeeze of the hand and a warming wink in lieu of a _you’re welcome_ from Jan’s mom. The releasing of her hand made her want to grab on a little tighter to the feelings of family and acceptance that were threatening to overwhelm her in that moment. 

“I- I’m just gonna go to the bathroom,” She easily excused herself, accepting mirrored nods from the mother and daughter before her before rushing up the stairs, careful not to trip over her feet. 

She began in the bathroom, just like she’d said, needing the cold splash of water against her heated face that had been gradually becoming hotter under the pressure of so much sheer affection. It wasn’t a bad thing by any means, it was very much a good thing, but that didn’t mean the emotions weren’t building up from the base of Jackie’s stomach and threatening to block her throat. She wasn’t used to swallowing such acceptance up. 

Before going back downstairs, Jackie took a detour into Jan’s lilac glowing childhood bedroom. She had planned to regroup and return, but found Jan in her Ariana Grande hoodie and cycling shorts clawing through her messy closet. She was cursing under her breath at the heels of endless shoes digging into her skin, and Jackie cleared her throat with a gentle smirk of amusement. 

“Oh! Jacks!” Jan popped her head back out and gave an enthusiastic wave from where she was on her knees. “Just go back down, I’ll be there in a sec!”

Jackie shook her head, going to take a seat on the edge of Jan’s bed. She toyed with the cream blanket throw draped over the end of it. 

“I’ll wait, I just need a minute…” Jackie leant back, propping herself up with her hands resting on the downy duvet as she met Jan’s crumpled brow.

“You okay?” Her voice was soft, curious, and she clumsily stood and wiped herself down before coming to stand before Jackie with her painted toes sinking into the shaggy rug. “Is it my mom? I can tell her to chill, I _know_ they’re a lot-”

Jackie’s head snapped up, and she shook it emphatically. 

“No- God, no. Don’t tell anyone to ‘chill’, Jan, they’re so lovely.” 

Jan paused, smiled a little with a cock of her head. She looked so stripped back like this but still classically Jan. Jackie had only known her in an abundance of glitter and tinsel, but here she had light mascara and brow gel on with a little foundation and a golden highlight adorning her cheeks. The blush and freckles were natural, and she wore sparkling mini white gold hoops no matter the outfit or affair. Even just to relax in the house on Christmas Eve.

“You make so much sense now I’ve met them,” Jackie continued, her voice as soft as silk, like she was scared to get any louder.

Jan simply chuckled in that familiar, throaty way and played with the ends of her sleeves like a child might.

“I get that a lot. When my friend Izzy came over for dinner one time she didn’t leave for like a week.”

Jan’s parents were the type of people who would have lamented when she left for college and yearned for her return. Of course they accommodated anyone Jan cared about without question. They accommodated her friends and...whatever Jackie was. And they _knew._ They knew that Jackie didn’t need the sofa bed, that they were spending their nights wrapped around each other, that they had never just been work friends. They had simply grown from nothing into _something._

And Jan’s parents just knew that. They were fine with it. They welcomed it, actually. They had gushed over Jan bringing home a lawyer over repeatedly, and suggestively winked over fresh cups of coffee. Jackie tried to argue that she was only a student, but Jan elbowed her and said they would never know the difference. She encouraged Jackie to bask in the sunshine of their praise, and so she did, even as it threatened to snow outside.

Jackie had shared parts of her family with Jan, small tidbits of information that she could attempt to paint a picture with, but never enough to fill a full sized canvas. However, Jan never pushed her for more.

“I’m just not entirely used to it,” Jackie admitted, and Jan sat cross legged in front of her on the bed to listen. “I love my parents, it’s just different. The constant affirmation of you being perfect as you are - which you are - is...overwhelming.” 

Jan simply grinned with her tongue between her teeth.

“ _Jacqueline-“_ She dramatised, reaching a hand over to grab at Jackie’s own. “Did you just call me perfect?”

“Of course that’s what you focus on-“ Jackie snorted as Jan playfully batted her lashes, ignoring the way her own cheeks threatened to heat up like a newly lit fireplace. She knew that she was going pink, and cast her eyes down to their now joined hands. 

“Hey, Jackie?” Jan spoke in hushed tones, shuffling forward in a way that made the bed creak.

“Jacks?” This particular whisper came inches away from Jackie’s face. “I get why you might need a minute. You don’t have to say anything else.” 

Jackie felt careful fingers tuck her curls behind her ear, like Jan was pulling a curtain back to see the light behind it. She looked at Jackie as if she was the bright glow of the sun streaming in, and Jackie could never help but smile at that.

Delicately, like she was handling porcelain, Jan kissed her. Of course, Jackie wasn’t made of porcelain, but she might have broken if she was. Jan’s kiss was an affirming promise that made her quake more than she would admit, it was a determined touch of the lips that refused to ever leave her alone. There were remnants of morning coffee on her breath, soft syrupy vanilla on her lips, and the bitter sweetness tingled against Jackie’s tongue.

The sugar tinged kisses were followed by a hug. Jan _cradled_ more than hugged, holding onto the base of Jackie’s skull like she needed protecting. 

“You ready?” She asked after a few peaceful moments.

Jackie nodded, pulling away with a grateful expression.

“Come on. Let’s go kick your families’ asses at Pictionary.”

Jackie knew she would need more moments to herself, more space to breathe, but nonetheless she was grateful. 

_Inhale. Exhale. Let’s go._


End file.
